Media governance and fiscal expenditure volatility—evidence from China

This study examines the impact of media governance on fiscal expenditure volatility, using China's television governance as an exogenous shock. We find that media governance can significantly reduce fiscal expenditure volatility. Moreover, we also analyse the mechanism and heterogeneity of government quality in causal effects. Our findings suggest that media governance significantly improves government quality. In regions with lower levels of government integrity or more efficient fiscal governance, media governance has a more significant stabilizing effect on fiscal expenditure.